Charlottesville Breaking News

"This is the kind of injury you get when you've been launched or
projected. She's landed on her head."

So testified a forensic pathologist hired by the defense in Eric
Abshire's first degree murder trial to offer an alternate theory in
the injuries sustained by 27-year-old kindergarten teacher and 1997
Western Albemarle High School grad Justine Swartz Abshire on
the night she died in what initially was reported to be a
hit-and-run.

"My opinion is that she was standing at the time she was struck by
a vehicle," said that pathologist, Dr. Jonathan L. Arden, a former
New York City medical examiner who's been a paid legal consultant
since 2003. Arden pointed to the fracture in Justine's femur as
evidence of the vehicle involvement in her November 2006 death, and
claimed none of her injuries appeared consistent with being run
over while already prone.

Instead, he testified, her 113 external injuries and numerous
additional internal injuries were likely sustained nearly
simultaneously as a car struck her in the pelvis and leg region and
sent her hurtling through the air. The broken bones and lacerated
organs weren't the cause of her death, he asserted. While he agreed
with the prosecution's assertion that a neck injury contributed to
her death, he disagreed with the state's assessment of how she
might have sustained it.

"I don't believe strangulation played any role in her death," said
Arden. "The mechanism of her death is the ce...

Editor-in-chief Jason Ally, center, with the Cav Daily 5, had charges against him dismissed October 18 when the University Judiciary Committee realized its constitution exempted student papers from its rule.

WILL BRUMAS/CAVALIER DAILY

A University Judiciary Committee
ruled it did not have jurisdiction over the Cavalier
Daily October 18 after it heard the alleged breach of Honor
Code confidentiality trial against editor-in-chief Jason Ally.

The
case stemmed from a September 12 editorial in which the
managing board of the newspaper advised readers that an
unidentified columnist had plagiarized material and been turned
over to the Honor Committee.

Honor chair Ann Marie McKenzie filed charges against Ally and
four other members of the Cav Daily managing board,
alleging they'd breached Honor confidentiality in the editorial.
She later dropped charges against four of the Cav Daily 5,
leaving Ally to face the panel alone.

A Judiciary executive committee ruled September 22 that the case
could go forward, despite the newspaper pointing out the UJC's
constitution states it “shall not have jurisdiction over the
exercise of journalistic and editorial functions by student
groups.”

"It's kind of odd to be sure, since that's the same argument we
made to the UJC Executive Committee last month, yet they declined
to dismiss the case at that time," writes Ally in an email after
the three-and-a-half hour trial.

Former mayor Blake Caravati could see a domestic assault charge dropped after nine months of counseling and good behavior.

PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER

Former mayor Blake Caravati appeared in Juvenile and Domestic
Relations Court October 21 to face an assault and battery charge on
a family member.

Greene Commonwealth's Attorney Ron Morris was brought in as
special prosecutor for the brief hearing. Caravati and his wife,
Paula, both clad in dark suits, stood before
Judge Dwight Johnson, who agreed to a deferred disposition of
nine months of counseling and a condition of good behavior because
it was the first time Caravati had been charged with domestic
assault. After that, the charge may be dismissed.

Morris told the judge that the defense stipulated there was
enough evidence to find Caravati guilty. He said Caravati had been
attending counseling since September and was addressing personal
and anger-management issues.

The prosecutor recommended that Caravati continue with the
counseling, including battery intervention counseling, and said
he'd discussed it with Mrs. Caravati. "She doesn't want to
testify," said Morris.

The action stems from September 9, when Paula Caravati called
police to say that as she and her husband had an argument he'd
grabbed her arm. The officer who responded to their Little High
Street home observed a bruise on her arm, Morris told Judge
Johnson.

Blake Caravati told the officer they'd had an argument and
pushed each other, said Morris.

Following early morning testimony from a handwriting expert who
concluded that Eric Abshire forged his then-fiancée's signature on
a million-dollar vehicle insurance policy, day seven of the
first-degree murder trial was more about testimony the jury
won't be allowed to hear.

"Did you ever have sexual relations with Mr. Abshire?" Orange
County Commonwealth's Attorney Diana Wheeler asked witness Amanda
Morris. The query prompted Abshire's attorney, Charles Weber, to
immediately object, and, without delay, Judge Daniel Bouton sent
jurors from the courtroom. Then he allowed prosecutors to elicit
Morris' testimony, which included her account of having sex with
the 36-year-old dump truck driver in the month before his May
28, 2006, wedding and again just three days after Justine Swartz
Abshire's mysterious death, even before her funeral.

"He called and came over," explained Morris of the pre-funeral
sexual encounter. A tall brunette, she once worked at Wet Seal, a
boutique offering "cute teen clothing" in Fashion Square Mall and
was then known as Amanda Leathers. She testified she was dating
Abshire's close friend and dump-truck business partner, and that
the tryst with Abshire was a factor in the end of her
relationship.

"He was a little upset," Morris said of Abshire, testifying that
while she could tell he had been drinking when he arrived at her
house, "he wasn't drunk." Morris also recalled being present when
Abshire revealed...

Lawnie Matt Schrimper enjoyed one of the benefits of having a working fireplace during one of the big snow storms two winters ago.

File photo by Hawes Spencer

On a chilly fall day when the temperature barely cracked the 60-degree mark, University of Virginia officials announced that there's hope for the 106 chimneys of the hallowed Lawn and Range rooms, unceremoniously removed from service after an inspection revealed cracks in the nearly 200-year-old brick structures.

With a $100,000 gift from an alumnus, a fundraising campaign called "Keep the Fires Burning" kicked off October 19 in hopes of raising the estimated $3.7 million cost of repairing all the chimneys and installing something heretofore not seen in these historic chambers: a sprinkler system.

On Halloween, the smell of wood fires would ordinarily mix with the scents of glucose and artificial flavorings as hordes of children and parents enjoy trick-or-treating on the Lawn. However, a reporter's recent visit found not a single stick of firewood, something that would usually be stacked high along the colonnades of the so-called Academical Village this time of year.